Chair construction



J. B. OCONNOR CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Dec. 5, 1944.

Filed Oct. 21, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

JEfi/MZ 030'127101 Dec. 5, 1944. J. B. OCONNOR CHAIR CONSTRUCTION 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21, 1937 Patented Dec. 5, 1944 UNITED, STATESPATENT' orrlcs ascents CHAIR CONSTRUCTION John B. O'Connor, Aurora,111., minor to Lyon Metal Products. Incorporated. Aurora, 111.. acorporation of Illinois Application Ootobcr 21. 1931, Serial No. 110,250

. Claims. (Cl. 155-184) This invention relates to a new and improvedtion which is adaptable for various types of sel'V- ice andrequirements; more particularly. to pro,- duce a chair constructionwherein the same metal chassis may be used in the making of a chair ofall metal construction, or a chair having a wood or upholstered seat orback, or a seat or back faced with other desired material, as theoccasion may require. In accordance with the invention, the chair seatand back may be readily faced with wood, upholstery, or other desiredmaterial, the same metal chassis in each case being used, whereby torender the chair adaptable for different types of uses and serviceconditions and to permit the ready replacement and substitution of theparts to compensate for wear, damage or the like.

Another object is to provide'new and improved methods in the fabricationand assembly of the chair parts including the assembly of theupholstered seat'and back, whereby to produce the chair construction ata minimum cost.

Still other objects and advantages of the in vention will appear fromthefollowing descripopen position. r

seat showing the pad of Fig. 7 applied to the metal seat member of Fig.10, and

Figs. 12 and 18 are details showing the :means for securing the pad tothe seat.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will beseen that the chair in general comprises a main frame formed from a.

metal channel bar l0 bent into U-shape, and braced at its lower end by across brace II. A pair of channel bars I: and. it connected by a crossbrace it are pivotally secured at their upper ends to the channel It,and together form a rear support frame for the chair. A back it issecured to the U-channel l0 at the upper end thereof, and a seat It ispivotally secured to the frame by the pivots ll. Each rear corner of theseat is provided with a projection I8 carrying a cylindrical lug l9slidable within its associated rear channel bar, and each of the channelbars carries a stop 20 for limiting the upward movement of itsassociated lug. The lower ends of the channel bars III, I 2 and I3 carryrubber feet 2| affording a firm and solid support construction.

By virtue of the foregoing construction it will be seen that the chairis of the folding type and may be readily manipulated from its open orseating position, as shown inFigs. 1 and 3, to its closed position, asshown in Fig. 2, for storage purposes. This operation may be readilyeffected by grasping the chair back and front of the seat and rotatingthe seat clockwise with respect to the frame about the pivots l1. Duringthis operation the rear support frame comprising the channels l2 and Itwill be moved into substantial engagement with the main frame channell0, and the seat will be simultaneously brought into the plane of themain frame whereby to collapse the chair construction into the positionillus- Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the chair in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 Figs. 8, 9 and 10 areviews illustrating the method of making the metal seat or chassis.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view through the chair trated in Fig. 2. When itis desired to again open the chair to seating position, the seat ispivoted counter-clockwise with respect to the frame, bringing the partsinto the position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. During this operationthe stops 20 limit the upward movement of the rear of the seat, thusholding the seat during use in firm substantially horizontal positionand against; collapse. v

The manner in which the seat member is formed and the manner in whichfacings of wood, upholstery, or other desired material may be applied tothe seat to render it adaptable for different requirements and variousconditions of use i are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 and in Figs. 6 to13 inclusive of the drawings. In Fig. 4 there is illustrated a seatfacing member 35 shaped to conform to the upper surface of. the seat ofthe chair and which may be readily applied thereto. The member 35 isprovided with holes 36 adapted to aline with holes 3"! formed in thesheet metal seat 3 of the chair (Fig. l). The member 35 may be firmlyattached to the seat merely by superimposing it thereon and securing itto the seat by bolts 38 passing through the alined openlugs 36 and 31,as illustrated in Fig. 5. The facing member 35 may be of wood, or anyother desired material selected .to satisfy the requirements of anyparticular service condition. By reason of the construction provided theseat of the chair has the full rigidity and strength of the metalfoundation, and at the same time any desired upper seat surface isprovided by the facing member 35. This member may be of relatively lightweight and strength as the sheet metal foundation withstands all thestresses imparted to the construction in use. The facing member isfirmly attached in position, but it may be easily removed or substitutedfor other like members in the event it becomes damaged or in the event adifferent facing material upon the chair seat is desired.

In Figs. 6 and 7 a very desirable method for forming an upholstered seatpad for the chair is illustrated. As shown, the seat pad may comprise apiece of thin sheet metal 45, a pad member 46, and a sheet of upholsterymaterial 48. Preferably the pad member 46 is composed ofsuitable'filling material 41, such as hair, cotton, felt or the like,mounted upon a cardboard backing 41a and covered by fabric or the like412). The sheet metal member 45 has a plurality of key-hole openings 49and a central opening 50 1 cut therein. In forming the assembly the pad46 and the upholstery 48 are applied to the sheet metal member 45 afterthe openings 49 and'56 have been cut therein, but while the sheet is inflat form. The marginal edges 0f the upholstery material may then befolded over the edges of the sheet metal member and adhesively securedin'position, the pad 46 also being adhesively secured to the metal sheet45', after which the entire pad is shaped into the curved formillustrated in Fig. 7. i

The method of forming the main metal seat I6 which constitutes the scatchassis for the chair is illustrated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. The seatframe is composed of a pair of side members 52 carrying the cylindricallugs l9, secured to a cross brace member 53. The completed seat isformed by applying a sheet metal piece 54 of suitable size and shape andhaving the holes 31 formed therein, as illustrated in Fig. 8, to theseat frame. The sheet metal member 54 is formed by stamping or otherwiseforming it into the shape shown in Fig. and securing it to the framemembers 52 as by welding or any other suitable means. As previouslyindicated, the metal seat I6 is a completely formed seat for the chairand may be used with or without a covering member. The upper surface ofthe seat is of somewhat S-shape rendering it very comfortable as a seatsupport.

The cross brace 53, together with the side members 52 and the marginalflanges 55 and the S-shaping of the seat make the seat assembly veryrigid and substantial. It is to be understood that the sheet metal piece54 forming the main seat is considerably thicker than the light sheetmetal piece 45 and, due to its shaping which afiords cantilever action,forms a very strong seat support.

The application of the upholstery pad to the seat is illustrated inFigs. 11, 12 and 13. The upholstery pad is shaped to conform to theupper surface of the seat and is merely superimposed thereon, it beingheld in position by concealed bolts 56. These bolts are secured in placeby interlocking their heads in the key-hole slots of the sheet metalmember 45, as indicated in Fig. 13, after which the nuts 5'! may beapplied to the bolts to complete the assembly. The upholstery pad isfirmly held in position, butmay be readily removed at any time to permitsubstitution, removal or repair. The main metal seat l6 imparts. thenecessary strength to the structure, and accordingly the upholstery padmay be of light weight and construction. The S-shaping of the seat, thepadding 41 and the cutout 50 in the sheet metal member 45, all combineto make a very comfortable seat. In use the pad member 46 will bedepressed slightly into the opening 50 and in spanning this openingprovides a soft and yieldable seat structure.

The considerations heretofore described apply to the seat or back,either of which may be applied to or removed from the chair as a unit,and either of which may be upholstered or otherwise covered, or not, asdesired.-

The chair construction of the present invention provides ready means forsubstituting different facing materials upon the chair seat and back, tosuit varied requirements, and in view of the ease with which the entireback or seat may be removed, it is obvious that the entire seat and backconstructions may be replaced or substituted, if desired, to permit thesubstitution of different colored seats and backs, or plain orperforated metal members, etc.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the specificembodiments of the invention and in the several method steps ofmanufacture heretofore set forth, without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. For example, padding could be used in the application ofthe upholstery material.

1. A metal chair construction comprising a' A metal seat, said seatcomprising a seat frame and a perforated sheet metal seat member ofS-shaped cross section from the front to the rear thereof securedthereto, the seat frame comprising a cross frame member and a pair ofrearwardly extending side frame members of a contour conforming to theshaping of the sheet metal seat member, and a facing pad assemblyadapted to lie in'superposed relation upon the sheet metal seat memberto provide a seat surface therefor, said pad assembly comprising a sheetmetal backing member of lighter gauge than the gauge of the sheet metalseat member, padding, and a covering of upholstery material, said facingpad assembly being substantially commensurate in size with the uppersurface of the sheet metal seat member and shaped to conform to thecross section thereof, the backing member of said facing pad assemblyalso being provided with perforations in alinement with the perforationsof the sheet metal seat member, and removable attachment means adaptedto be received by the perforations 0f the backing member and the sheetmetal seat member whereby the facing pad assembly may be removablyattached to the chair seat.

2'. A metal chair construction comprising a metal seat, said seatcomprising a seat frame and a perforated sheet metal seat member ofS-shaped cross section from the front to the rear thereof securedthereto, the seat frame comprising a cross frame member and a pair ofrearwardly extending side frame members of a contour conforming to theshaping of the sheet metal seat member, and a facing pad assemblyadapted to lie in superposed relation upon the sheet metal seat mem berto provide a seat surface therefor, said pad assembly comprising a sheetmetal backing member of lighter gauge than the gauge of the sheet metalseat member, padding, and a covering of upholstery material, said facingpad assembly being shaped to conform to the upper surface of the sheetmetal seat member and the backing member of said facing pad assemblyalso being provided with perforations in alinement with the perforationsof the sheet metal seat member, and removable attachment means adaptedto be received by the perforations of the backing member and the sheetmetal seat member whereby the facing pad assembly may be removablyattached to the chair seat.

3. A metal chair construction comprising a metal seat, said seatcomprising a perforated sheet metal seat member, a facing pad assemblyadapted to lie in superposed relation upon the sheet metal seat memberto provide a seat surface therefor, said pad assembly comprising a sheetmetal backing member of lighter gauge than the gauge of the sheet metalseat member, padding, and a covering of upholstery material en-' closingthe padding and secured along its marginal portions to the marginalportions of the backing member. the backing member of the facing padassembly being cut away at its central portion whereby to provide asubstantially marginal ring, and said ring being provided withperforations in alinement with the perforations of the sheet metal seatmember, and removable attachment means adapted to be receivedby theperforations of I the backing member and the sheet metal seat memberwhereby the facing pad assembly may be removably attached to the chairseat. 4. A metal chair construction comprising a metal seat, said seatcomprising a seat frame and a sheet metal seat member adapted to overlieand bridge said frame and being welded thereto, said sheet metal seatmember having a downwardly turned flange extending peripherally thereofand being of S-Shape from the front to the rear, and said seat framecomprising a pair of rearwardly extending side frame members lyingwithin the flanges of the sheet metal seat memher and being of a contourconforming to the shaping of the sheet metal seat member.

5. In a metal chair construction of the portable folding type having afolded, metal frame, a metal seat, said seat comprising a seat frame anda sheet metal seat member adapted to overlie said frame and being weldedthereto, said sheet metal seat member having a downwardly turned flangeextending peripherally thereof and being of S-shape from the front tothe rear, said seat frame comprising a pair of rearwardly extending sideframe members of a contour conforming to the shaping of the sheetmetalseat member, said side frame members being relatively thin but having asubstantial depth in a vertical plane, and bearing lugs carried by saidside frame members adjacent the rear ends thereof for sliding engagementwith said chair frame.

JOHN B. OCONNOR.

